With oil prices edging up again, the race for an alternative power source is heating up. But just how long will it take?
Battery power has been seen for some time in vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, although its high price tag has kept the vehicle away from mainstream users.
The Riversimple Urban Car recently shown in London is powered with a fuel cell which has been engineered to combine oxygen from the air with hydrogen. Environmentalists are rejoicing as its only exhaust emission is water.
Its public release is planned for 2011, nearly a decade before its competitor Honda’s FCX Clarity hydrogen car is expected to hit the streets.
The concept of a car running on compressed air certainly caught our imagination when it was reported that Tata Motors would be constructing such a vehicle in India. Zero Pollution Motors who are now licensed to produce this car are also planning to relese an air powered car in within two years.
This news has been topped only by reports that Urine powered cars later this year utilizing new technology developed following extensive research by scientists at Ohio University. They have used a nickel based electrode to create large amounts of cheap hydrogen from urine that could be used in fuel cells.
There you have it, however I am not yet excited as I still patiently await the solar powered car that has been touted for decades!
